Let's Finish What We Started
by Fanbutnotsopitchperfect
Summary: At 18 years old Beca Mitchell knew exactly where she was going and what she wanted from life. Now at 32 years old those plans seem like a distant memory. But can one weekend change everything?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I apologize for how short this is and it's intentionally as vague as I made it. It's been a while since I've done a multi-chap but the idea came about during my 550th insomniac viewing of the movie when I realized that not only did I technically attend Barden University but I married a Jesse Swanson. Instead of my elaborating on that how about you just read the story... Title comes from Flaws by Bastille (the acoustic version is the best).

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A harsh breath leaves Beca's chest as she looks down at the papers in front of her and shakes her head. Sales are slow, it's to be expected when clientele consists of mostly college kids that go home for the summer and she knows that. They prepare for slow summer months, doesn't mean it's any less stressful for her. She pushes the papers across the desk and leans her head back against the chair as she wonders how they're going to keep the doors open through the summer. She shouldn't be worried. Business will pick up come August and everything will work out fine. Like it always does. Come August she knows they'll be so busy she'll be wondering how they're going to find enough help to keep the place running at full capacity and end up having hiring temporary help. Still knowing that doesn't make the summer months any less stressful.

"Hey," the office door swings open and she looks up to see Scott, summer's only fulltime bartender standing in front of her. He's covered in liquid and wiping his hand on an overly damp rag that implies he's walking into the office to clean up. "Why are you here? I thought you were taking this weekend off? It's a big one for you."

"I'm not asking how much that's costing me." She remarks and points at the wet stain that starts on his shirt and trails down his jeans. "Did you check in the Miller guy today? I told him to bring in extra Pabst for the weekend. It's cheap and all we're selling right now." She sighs as she takes a swat at the papers she pushed away before she leans her head back against the chair and rubs at her temple.

"It's all we're selling because it's summer. That's all we ever sell during the summer, I've been doing this two summers now. I'm marketing major. Do you really think I don't know what sell's when?" Scott gives her an arrogant smile, and then raises an eyebrow. "Dropping the act now. You didn't answer my question. I should be serving you drinks, not answering you're questions. Why are you here?" His eyebrows wiggle at her and he clicks his tongue upon finishing the question.

"I did take the weekend off. I'm not here. You don't see me. And should you be out there serving drinks. You're not getting paid to ask me 550 questions now are you?" She snaps back at him as she closes her eyes before she shakes her head and opens her eyes to roll them at him.

"There's six people in there and all six of them are my frat brothers that keep asking for free drinks. I'm saving you money being in here." He flashes a grin and winks at her.

A grin and wink that take her back and for a second she forgets who she's talking to because the way Scott grins at her... She's been grinned and winked at like that before and not just by him. Any other day she wouldn't read into it, it's just right now it's reminding her of someone else. Someone she's not ready to see... It reminds her of...

"Stop giving me that face." She tells him. "I am taking the weekend off. It's just-"

"It's just you just can't let anything lie." He responds as he walks over to lift her up from the desk chair. "I don't want to see you again this weekend unless it's serving you drinks." He pushes at her back, leading her towards the back door that leads to the parking lot. "Go!"

He kicks the door open forcing the cold air from inside to meet the hot and humid air of outside and for just a second it creates a hazy around her. A haze that comforts her and allows her to forget why she's being forced out, and why she's taking the weekend off. It's a familiar haze, one that she used to take comfort in. Now it's just a haze that reminds her of everything she doesn't want to be reminded of. The heavy back door slams to a close and snaps her back into reality. She looks at her car, one of only three in the tiny employee parking lot surrounded by a wooden fence. The fence is closed, locking all the cars in, she could and probably should open the fence and drive her car back to her apartment. She could open it and leave, or... Her head turns and looks to the right to see the sidewalk that turns out of the parking lot and up the street. If she starts walking up the street it's only a couple of blocks before she's met with the North gates of Barden's campus.

She follows the sidewalk out of the parking lot. She follows the sidewalk until she's at the corner by the bar waiting for the red light to turn green, letting her cross the street. She's at the bar every day and only lives ten minutes in the other direction but hasn't taken this walk in years. Her foot taps a rhythm against the sidewalk until the light turns and she crosses walking north towards campus. She passes the store that sells Barden University athletic apparel. She remembers the time Fat Amy made a scene because they didn't stock plus sized clothing. They started to after that and Beca wonders if they still do. If they didn't she might cause a scene herself. But it's summer and late so the store is closed and she keeps walking.

It's less than a block when she finds herself standing by the Barden visitors' parking lot. She can't help but close her eyes and laugh because if you're walking from the dorms that parking lot is right before you hit the stretch of college bars. She walked through that parking lot quite a bit in college, going in both directions. Beca looks down as she walks through the parking lot; it comes out of an instinct she thought was long lost. That parking lot was Cynthia Rose's favorite place to pee, and Stacy's favorite place to puke when they were on the way back to the dorms. She can't help but smile at the memories as she keeps walking along. The stadium lights light her way because no matter what time of year it is, those lights are always on. And there's always one that seems to shine on one particular area. The area she's spent years avoiding, the area she's find herself walking to right now.

Along the way she passes the fountain right by the Faces Laboratory sign. Freshmen year after the Bellas won the National Title, all of the girls took pictures making different face by that sign because... What else are you supposed to do by a sign that says Faces Laboratory? She's still not sure what kind of classes one has to take to have a class inside the building. All of the things she passes are still familiar and beautiful. Even when she didn't want to be there, even when she was sure she belonged someplace else, she always did appreciate the beauty of the campus. She takes peace in the beauty surrounding her and she wonders why in all these years she hasn't made this walk since she was a student. Then the lights from start to fade. All but one light, the light that points away from the football field. It's the light that after they've had too much to drink students use to guide themselves to the football field so they don't miss the game. It's the light that's always seemed to shine on one certain place. It's a light she hadn't realized she's been following until her feet take her to the place they always intended. The places she didn't realize she was going until now.

She's standing on the grass, looking at the stairs that lead down to the campus' Greek theatre. Her foot hits the concrete. The sound echoes all around her. If anyone was sleeping in the surrounding builds, there's a possibility they can hear her walking down the stairs because it's that loud. Or at least it is in her head. She stops halfway down and slides onto one of the benches.

Even with the summer heat, the bench she sits on is still cold. She looks out around her. Now it's a big empty area but that's not how she remembers it. She remembers it the way it will be in a few months. She remembers it full of laughter and music and kids ready to start the rest of their lives. Her eyes slipped closed and her thoughts drift until she's one of those kids. She's eighteen standing on the concrete steps wondering what the hell she's doing there.

This was where it all started for her. This is where she stood jaded thinking she could do better things with her life. This was where she stood as other's celebrated. This is where she became a Bella. This is where Chloe insisted she and Beca were going to become best friends. It was here that Audrey passed on the torch, trusting Beca to ensure the Bellas were the embodiment of a special sisterhood. Those things happened in this very place and they were special to her. The memories still are special to her. But not the reason she's been avoiding coming back here all these years.

She's been avoiding coming back here for year because this is the place her life changed. This is the place a drunken boy she barely knew stood in front of her and insisted they were going to have children one day. A drunken boy she came to know when he wasn't drunk. A drunken boy that ended up becoming her best friend. A drunken boy she ended up falling in love with. A drunken boy she lost, and hasn't spoken to in years. A drunken boy she still loves, even if she won't admit it to anyone but herself. A drunken boy she...

The sound of footsteps hitting the concrete stairs sound in the air, echoing against the buildings surround the Greek theatre making them sound even louder. She's sure she's hearing things because no one else should be here at this hour. Her head snaps around expecting to see a lost student, since no one ever comes here on purpose, or at least they didn't when she went here. Her eyes moves in the direction of the sound and again she's sure she's imagining things because... She just can't be seeing who she's seeing. She has to still be lost somewhere in her memories because...  
"Becaw!" He calls out as gives a half laugh and looks down. "I can't say I wasn't hoping to find you here."

There's a smile hanging off his lips. It's the same smile he gave her the first time she ever saw him. It's the same smile he gave her any time he knew he was right. And no matter how much time she's spent trying to forget that smile, she just can't. Because it's that smile she see when she closes her eyes and thinks about him. The same smile he gave her before she kissed him for the first time. She knows that smile and she used to know the boy it was attached to. Maybe she still does know that boy. But it's not a boy giving it to her now. It's the man that boy became standing face to face with her. And now all she can muster up to say is the name running through her head... His name.

"Jesse?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I apologize another short chapter. This is really chapter 1 part 2. And had I known where I was going this would have been part of chapter one, so let's just call it an extension of that. Chapter 3, which answers some questions and moves everything along, is in progress. For now I hope this sparks interests and temporarily satisfies those that have been reading.

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This is why she's hasn't been here in years. Him finding her sitting here alone, her not having a clue what to say or do, it's the exact scenario she's been avoiding all these years. She just didn't realize until right now. He's standing there in front of her. He's real. And he's here, and she feels completely paralyzed. She should get up and leave. She should quickly walk away without another word. He's here, he's healthy on appearance and that's really all she wanted to know so she should leave but... "Jesse..." This time it's softer and his name gets whispered from her lips.

He lifts his hand and holds his finger out to hush her. "Right here," he says as he walks forward a few steps and stops before rocking back on his heels. "Is where I told you we were going to have Aca-children." She opens her mouth to speak before she can get anything out he shoots up a finger to shush her. His hand drops as his feet shuffle. In the time it takes her to blink, he's back at the top of the seating area. He stamps his foot down and cocks his head, "You know what happened right here?" His eyebrow lifts but he doesn't wait for her to answer him. "Right here, is where I told you I loved you for the first time. You tried to hide it but you were completely freaked out." He grins and starts to slowly walk down the steps, his foot echoes with each step. "I expected that though. What I didn't expect," he stops and sits down on the concrete just in front of her. "What I didn't expect was that right here is where you broke up with me."

"Jesse-" She tries to speak but all she can manage to say is his name again. It's starting to get really annoying that even after all this time she can't full collect her thoughts around him. And while she's still trying to wrap her head around that he cuts her off.

"You didn't call it that. You didn't call it breaking up. But I knew what it was the moment you opened your mouth. I didn't expect it but I knew what it was even if you didn't call it that. Instead you gave me some speech about the stress of long distance and needing us to always be friends... We both know how that worked out."

He doesn't turn around to face her while he talks. Which is a good thing because her eyes are closed? She's been reliving those memories with him. It's just the way he talks, the melancholy in his tone, it's very unsettling for her. It's unsettling and bringing up a bunch of stuff she isn't ready to deal with yet. She knew that chances were at some point this weekend she was going to have to answer questions and face things she hasn't dealt with, it's just... He didn't expect her to break up with him, the same way she didn't expect him to show up here tonight.

"I should go." She states as she stands up. Her motions are so fast that for a moment she's dizzy. She blinks and lets her surroundings come into clear focus before she repeats her statement, "I should definitely go."

"Some things never change." He mumbles so low that his voice almost gets drown out by the sound of her footsteps. Almost.

"Excuse me?" She slings herself around to face him, unable to hide the expression on her face that says she wants to know exactly what the fuck he means.

"Just go." The tone in his voice is no longer melancholy, it's cold and guarded. There's something in it that tells her he expects this from her and it pisses her off.

"No." She folds her arms across her chest and stands her ground. If he's going to speak like he has expectations then he's going to explain to her what he means. "No. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what you mean by some things never change."

His head shakes and a harsh sigh comes out, "I meant exactly what I said, Beca. Some things never change. Here we are together and there's things we could and should say but you're getting up and leaving like you always have. Some things never change. And I said it because it's the truth." He stands and finally turns to face her. "The truth is that no matter how much you wish things were different, no much how much you wish some things could change they just don't." His eyes are dead locked on hers for a moment before he continues on, "Some things never change... This place, maybe it's not exactly the same but all of the things I know here none of them have changed. They're all exactly how I left them... I thought..." He pauses to close his eyes and shake his head, "So much has changed I thought that... I thought I wanted to come here and find out things change. Then I saw you. I walked up and I had to blink. I had to shake my head, I had to make sure what I was seeing was real because I saw you here. And as soon as I realized it wasn't my imagination and you really were sitting there I thought... I thought if you're here and that if this place stayed the same..." He stops again to blow out a breath. "When I walked up and realized it really was you sitting there, not some figment of my imagination, I thought maybe the things you don't want to change, don't change. Like I was in a movie and..."

She doesn't wait for him to finish, "Life isn't a movie, Jesse."

"I'm beyond painfully aware of that at this point in my life."

She watches his face as he pauses with his statement, like he's carefully planning his next words because he's waiting for her to ask a question. She's not going ask a question because she doesn't have one to ask, at least not one she wants him to honestly answer. And she thinks he knows that so she doesn't wait for him to come up with something to say. "Life isn't a movie, Jesse," she repeats then lets out a sigh. "It's life."

He cocks his head to the side and gives her a bittersweet half smile, "Again I'm aware of that right now."

The half smile on his face fades slowly, and she knows this isn't about her, at least not completely. She wants to comfort him, but comfort would come with too many questions. And it's those questions that make up the reason she can't stand there any longer. She's not ready to have to answer questions about her own life, and she can't stand there without asking questions about his life. She didn't expect it yet, so she's not ready answer questions about her life and she sure as hell isn't ready to hear about his. It's all she can do to get out a shrug and, "I'm sorry."  
They're the last words she says to him before she turns walks away as fast as she can.

She walks away as fast as she can and does look back until she's sure she won't see him. When she finally looks back she realizes that she walked away without any direction. In a way it's kind of funny that in her hurry to get away she's ended up in front of her old dorm building. Her eyes close as she remembers... Really if Jesse wanted to play the memory game, then maybe he should have followed her since now she's walking the sidewalk where she first saw him playing awful air guitar in an attempt to get her attention...

She throws her hands up and shakes her head. All of this, all of these memories, all of these things she hasn't wanted to face... She didn't know it until now but they're why she's never wandered the campus. It doesn't matter where she walks; every place has a memory attached. Just a few steps along the sidewalk would be where she met Fat Amy. A little further down, her first introduction to Chloe and Audrey... Back then she didn't know then meeting them would lead to so many great things. She leans down and traces her fingers along the sidewalk... Back then she didn't even want to be at Barden... Her head lifts up and she fights away other memories as she rises up and looks back to the sidewalk in front of the dorms... Back then she didn't think anything she could learn here, or anyone she could meet here would impact her life. She was beyond wrong. She never realizes how much those moment, that are now just memories, impacted her. It's those moments and those memories that lead her to end up back here.

She's never shared it with anyone but it was the memories she's kept to herself, and the moments she doesn't speak that lead her back here. She's kept those moments and memories locked away. Locked inside the bar that she's unlocking the backdoor of and walking inside. This bar, it's her comfort, it's her savior... Jesse was right, some things never change. But this bar hasn't changed... It hasn't changed and she's made sure of that. She's taken it and created stability. She knows exactly what to plan for and expect. Despite anything, anyone could ever say the one thing she's managed to do with the bar is create something. And it's that stability that allows her to curl up on the futon in her office and close her eyes to sleep.


End file.
